Home | Links | Search | Updates | FAQ | About | Contact Roads | Signals | Roadsigns | Towns & Cities | International | Publications | Sign Drawings

Hume Highway (National Highway 31) - Historical Photos: Wilton to Mittagong (Decommissioned)

Statistics:

• Length: 500 km (Campbelltown to Wilton: 22 km)
• Northern Terminus: Narellan Road (Metroad 9) interchange at Mt Annan, near Campbelltown on the outskirts of southwestern Sydney.
• Southern Terminus: NSW-Vic border at Albury
• Miscellaneous: Continues as Hume Freeway (M31) at the Victorian border and travels for 303 km to the Metropolitan Ring Road (M80).
• Suburbs, Towns & Localities along route: Cambelltown, Mt Annan, Menangle Park Douglas Park and Wilton.

Route Numbering:

• Former:
• Decommissioned: 2013  
• Road Authority Internal Classification: HW2 1

General Information:

The Hume Highway is one of Australia's most vital highway links. Providing access between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's 2 largest cities. The National Highway section of the Hume Highway consists of almost 100% dual carriageway road, either rural expressway or motorway standard. Works to duplicate small sections of highway that are not dual carriageway are well underway.

In NSW, the highway in one form or another started life as the Great South Road, linking Sydney with the southern highlands and eventually beyond. The highway was named in 1928 after Hamilton Hume (1797-1873), a famous explorer in the early 19th century who, in 1824, in conjunction with William Hovell first found an overland route between Sydney and the infant colonial outpost of Port Phillip, the original name of Melbourne.

NH31 is the main freight and commuter route between Sydney and Melbourne and has gone through a massive amount of transformation over the past 30 or so years, with many towns being bypassed along its route as well and gradual upgrades to motorway standards. Since the 1960s, the road has either been duplicated, where alignments allow for it, and also large deviations have also been part of the upgrade process.

The route around the Mittagong area averages around 16,000 vehicles every day, in other sections the number drops off a little or closer to Sydney increases. 2

The route forms the Remembrance Driveway which honours war veterans, click here for the Remembrance Driveway web site.

History:

• 1950s: In 1952, a group of citizens met and formed a committee under Lt-General Sir Frank Berryman to create a national memorial to servicemen by using trees and shrubs as living memorials. The NSW Premier, J J Cahill, officially launched the scheme on 9 December 1953. The Remembrance Driveway project as it was called started on 5 February 1954, when trees were planted at either end of the Driveway at the War Memorial, Canberra, and in Macquarie Place, Sydney, by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. By June 1959, 10,000 trees had been planted. Since then, planting of trees in avenues or groves has continued. When the M5 Motorway replaced the Hume Highway (and also Camden Valley Way) south of Liverpool, it became the focus for planting trees and shrubs in remembrance. 1
• 1970s: DMR also built a high standard 4 lane road between Bargo and Alpine (near Mittagong)
• May 1977: South Western Freeway between Yanderra and Alpine opens to traffic
• December 1980: Opening of freeway between Campbelltown and Yanderra north of Mittagong. This section of the Hume Hwy features the highest bridge ever built in NSW was the Pheasants Nest Bridge across the Nepean River, which is 76 metres above water level. 2 When this section was built, it formed part of the longest freeway in Australia at the time and won the DMR world wide design and engineering awards.

The photos shown below are scanned from the DMR publication South Western Freeway, F5 from The Cross Roads near Liverpool to Aylmerton near Mittagong, which was published in December 1980.

Preview:	Description:
	South of Yanderra: Aerial view south of Yanderra, showing the twin bridges over the Main Southern Railway Line. 1977. Image © Department of Main Roads New South Wales
	Yanderra to Aylmerton: Completed carriageways of the Hume Hwy between Yanderra and Aylmerton, May 1977. Image © Department of Main Roads New South Wales
	Church Avenue Interchange: Looking at the Church Avenue interchange, at the south facing ramps. August 1977. These days, the interchange also has north-facing ramps. Image © Department of Main Roads New South Wales
	Church Avenue Overbridge: Photo showing one of several bridge abutment designs used along the freeway. Church Avenue at Aylmerton, 1977. Image © Department of Main Roads New South Wales

1 Roads and Traffic Authority
2 Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

Last updated: 17-Dec-2019 0:55

This site © Paul Rands. All rights reserved. Some portions © (copyright) by their respective and credited owners. Permission must be obtained before using any images from this site. For details, please email by clicking here.